A neorealist allegorical painting inspired by the bible story of Jephthah and his daughter has won the Israeli artist Matan Ben Cnaan one of the world’s most prestigious portrait awards.

Ben Cnaan was named the first Israeli winner of the £30,000 BP portrait award at a ceremony on Tuesday evening at the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) in London.

Judges said they were struck by the “engaging filmic narrative” of Ben Cnaan’s portrait Annabelle and Guy, and its “unnerving atmosphere”. They added: “The painting’s setting and the treatment of intense light and deep shadow was much admired.”

On the face of it, 35-year-old Ben Cnaan has painted a friend, stepdaughter and their dog all looking equally pensive in the blistering sunlight of Israel’s Jezreel Valley. Another way of seeing it is defiance in the face of impending tragedy. Ben Cnaan’s portrait is based on the story of Jephthah, a judge who led the Israelites into war with the Ammonites and vowed to God that, if he won, he would sacrifice the first thing he saw on his homecoming.

He expected it to be the dog. To his horror, it was his only daughter who rushed out to greet him.

Ben Cnaan, who lives in the Jezreel Valley, used his friends Guy and Annabelle for the portrait. He said he hoped “the tension imminent in the moment of realisation of the horrible price one must pay is reflected in the composition”.

The second prize went to the British artist Michael Gaskell, based in Leicester, who painted his niece Eliza when she was 14. The winner of the third prize was the Spanish artist Borja Buces Renard for My Mother and My Brother on a Sunday Evening.

There were a record number of entries this year – 2,748 portraits from 92 countries, up from 2,377 from 71 countries last year. Prize organisers put the increase down to new rules that allow people to submit images of their portraits digitally.

Pim Baxter, the chair of judges and deputy director of the NPG, said her panel had been impressed by the range and style of work entered this year. “We were all drawn to the winning portrait by Matan Ben Cnaan at a very early stage, the quality of light is extraordinary, together with the intensity of the gaze of the subjects.”

Other prizes announced at the ceremony include 25-year-old New York-based artist Eleana Antonaki winning the BP young artist prize for her portrait of her friend, the emerging artist Julie Laenkholm.

The BP travel award, open to any of the BP portrait award artists, was given to the French artist Magali Cazo who proposed travelling to live and sketch a community of west African bronze smelters in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. She will then develop a series of portraits on wood, to be displayed in next year’s exhibition.

My Mother and My Brother on a Sunday Evening by Borja Buces Renard, who won the third place prize. Photograph: Borja Buces Renard/National Port/PA

The portrait award is now in its 36th year and 26th year of BP sponsorship – a hugely contentious issue that brings frequent demonstrations from campaigners who want arts organisations to take a stand by rejecting oil company sponsorship. Before BP the award was sponsored by John Player cigarettes.

On the judging panel this year were the historian Simon Schama, Sarah Howgate, contemporary curator at the NPG, , Kim Mawhinney, the head of art at National Museums Northern Ireland, the artist and 2009 winner Peter Monkman, and Des Violaris, director of UK arts and culture at BP.

All the winning paintings will be on display at the NPG, free of charge, from 18 June to 20 September and will later tour to Edinburgh (10 October-28 February 2016) and Belfast (11 March-12 June 2016)